BOSTON -- The Supreme Judicial Court has agreed to hear a case involving the fallout from the misconduct of former state drug lab chemist Sonja Farak.

Farak was arrested in 2013 for stealing samples from the Amherst state drug lab to feed her own addiction. She pleaded guilty to evidence tampering and drug charges. Litigation is ongoing over what to do with the drug cases Farak was involved with.

District attorneys have agreed to dismiss more than 8,000 drug cases, which include most of the cases Farak touched. The ACLU and public defenders have asked for every case touched by Farak to be dismissed.

The case was further complicated by two former assistant attorneys general who withheld relevant information.

The SJC will consider whether district attorneys have to dismiss every case touched by Farak or whether they can hold on to a small number of the most serious cases.

The court will consider whether all cases tested at the Amherst Laboratory during Farak's employment could be considered suspect, even if Farak was not the analyst in those cases.

Finally, the court will consider whether to implement blanket legal measures for future cases involving widespread prosecutorial misconduct. For example, the court could say that if there is prosecutorial misconduct, defendants must be notified or must have their cases dismissed.

Carl Williams, a staff attorney for the ACLU, which was one of the groups who filed suit asking for all Farak cases to be dismissed, said the ACLU is pleased the full SJC will review the case.

"We think looking at the situation more broadly is what is needed now, and having a solution that brings justice to these people who are victims of prosecutorial misconduct is what's needed," Williams said.